Mark Cuban Apologizes To Trayvon Martin’s Family After ‘Hoodie’ Remark

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has come under fire for making an insensitive, racist comment about slain teen Trayvon Martin while addressing the Donald Sterling controversy at a business conference on May 21. Mark quickly took to Twitter to apologize to Travyon’s family but the damage had already been done.

Mark Cuban stirred up major controversy with his comments about racism and prejudice during Inc. magazine’s GrowCo conference in Nashville, Tenn. on May 21. Outrage spread after Mark made a shocking comment about a “black kid in a hoodie,” in a direct reference to the tragic death of Trayvon Martin in 2012. Upon realizing how hurtful his remark was, Mark apologized to Travyon’s family on Twitter. Watch the video below and tell us what YOU think.

Mark Cuban Apologizes To Trayvon Martin’s Family After ‘Hoodie’ Remark

Mark Cuban spoke out about the Donald Sterling scandal and sharedsome controversial opinions of his own about racism and bigotry at a business conference on May 21.

Mark argued that, “We’re all prejudice in one way or another,” and then made a shocking reference to Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old boy who was shot and killed by neighborhood watch guard George Zimmerman in 2012 while infamously wearing a hooded sweatshirt. Mark said at the conference:

If I see a black kid in a hoodie, and it’s late at night, I’m walking to the other side of the street. And if on that side of the street there’s a guy that has tattoos all over his face — white guy, bald head, tattoos everywhere — I’m walking back to the other side of the street. And the list goes on of stereotypes that we all live up to and are fearful of.

Wow. Those are some bold and offensive comments! After Mark’s interview went viral and the backlash began, he took to Twitter to apologize to Trayvon’s family in a series of tweets on May 22:

P/1: In hindsight I should have used different examples. I didn’t consider the Trayvon Martin family, and I apologize to them for that.

Mark Cuban Stands By Controversial Comments

Despite his apology, Mark still stands by his polarizing comments on racism and bigotry.

He emphasized that in his tweets on May 22, saying: “Beyond apologizing to the Martin family, I stand by the words and substance of the interview…I think that helping people improve their lives, helping people engage with people they may fear or may not understand, and helping people realize that while we all may have our prejudices and bigotries we have to learn that it’s an issue that we have to control, that it’s part of my responsibility as an entrepreneur to try to solve it.”

We’re glad to hear that he’s apologized, but from where we stand, it sounds like Mark still doesn’t realize how heartless his comment about Treyvon was, or the depth of the emotional impact that it could have on the Martin family.

Watch the interview below to hear all of Mark’s shocking comments.

What do you think, HollywoodLifers? Do you think Mark’s apology was sincere? What do you think about his controversial interview? Let us know!